He also made aspen furniture and was an outdoor wilderness guide, according to his family.

He had an astonishing gift for spacial reasoning and could memorize a map or nautical chart with one quick study, according to his family: "He realized this gift and was never, in all his travels, lost."

He also was a jokester, a storyteller and an excellent chef, and had profound gratitude for a higher power, according to his family.

"He experienced the world for himself," according to his family. "He made people laugh."